Learn how to accept or reject an invitation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 6 - Talking About Your Talents in Swahili. I’m John. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about abilities. The conversation takes place at school. |
| Medina: It's between a teacher and Maria. |
| John: The speakers are a teacher and student, so they will use formal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mwalimu: Sasa ni wakati wa masomo ya mazoezi. |
| Maria: Mimi naweza cheza kadanda kwa vile naipenda sana. |
| Mwalimu: Hivyo ni vizuri mwanafunzi wangu. |
| Maria: Mimi siwezi kukimbia ama kuimba. Sio mojawapo ya vipawa vyangu |
| Mwalimu: Maria lakini pia utie bidii sana kwa masomo pia. |
| Maria: Ndio mwalimu. Mimi naweza kusikiza mafunzo, kusoma vitabu na kucheza kadanda. |
| Mwalimu: Hapo ni ukweli kwa vile wewe unapita mitihani yako kwa alama ya juu sana. |
| Maria: Asante kwa kunipa hongera. |
| Mwalimu: Haya basi sasa wacha sisi sote twende kiwanjani. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mwalimu: Sasa ni wakati wa masomo ya mazoezi. |
| Maria: Mimi naweza cheza kadanda kwa vile naipenda sana. |
| Mwalimu: Hivyo ni vizuri mwanafunzi wangu. |
| Maria: Mimi siwezi kukimbia ama kuimba. Sio mojawapo ya vipawa vyangu |
| Mwalimu: Maria lakini pia utie bidii sana kwa masomo pia. |
| Maria: Ndio mwalimu. Mimi naweza kusikiza mafunzo, kusoma vitabu na kucheza kadanda. |
| Mwalimu: Hapo ni ukweli kwa vile wewe unapita mitihani yako kwa alama ya juu sana. |
| Maria: Asante kwa kunipa hongera. |
| Mwalimu: Haya basi sasa wacha sisi sote twende kiwanjani. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Teacher: Now it is time to do your co-curricular activities. |
| Maria: I can play football because I like it very much. |
| Teacher: That is good, my student. |
| Maria: I can't run or sing. I don’t have a talent for either. |
| Teacher: Maria, you should work hard at your studies too. |
| Maria: Yes, teacher. I can listen to lessons and read my books and play football as well. |
| Teacher: That is true, since you pass your exams with very high scores. |
| Maria: Thanks for your appreciation. |
| Teacher: Okay then. Let's all go to the fields now. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Are co-curricular activities common in Kenya? |
| Medina: Yes. They’re usually activities that students like and are good at. |
| John: What are the most common ones? |
| Medina: Running, playing football, and basketball. |
| John: When do they take place? |
| Medina: These activities mostly happen in the afternoon because it’s very hot during that time of the day, and that makes it hard for students to concentrate in class. |
| John: That makes sense. What’s the Swahili for “co-curricular activities”? |
| Medina: masomo ya mazoezi. Here is a sample sentence, Wanafunzi wanapenda masomo ya mazoezi sana. |
| John: Which means "The students love co-curricular activities." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Medina: wakati [natural native speed] |
| John: time |
| Medina: wakati[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: wakati [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: kandanda [natural native speed] |
| John: soccer |
| Medina: kandanda[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kandanda [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: mwanafunzi [natural native speed] |
| John: student (male) |
| Medina: mwanafunzi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mwanafunzi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: kuimba [natural native speed] |
| John: to sing |
| Medina: kuimba[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kuimba [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: masomo [natural native speed] |
| John: studies |
| Medina: masomo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: masomo [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: mafunzo [natural native speed] |
| John: lessons |
| Medina: mafunzo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mafunzo [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: mtihani [natural native speed] |
| John: examination, test, exam |
| Medina: mtihani[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mtihani [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Medina: hongera [natural native speed] |
| John: congratulations |
| Medina: hongera[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: hongera [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly.. |
| Medina: kiwanjani [natural native speed] |
| John: field |
| Medina: kiwanjani[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kiwanjani [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Medina: kusikiza masomo |
| John: meaning "to study" |
| Medina: Kusikiza means "to listen" while masomo means "to study." |
| John: The phrase therefore literally means "to pay attention to your studies." Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Mwalimu alimwambia Jane ayasikilize masomo yake. |
| John: .. which means "The teacher told Jane to study." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: Kunipa hongera |
| John: meaning "appreciating" |
| Medina: This phrase is made up of Ku meaning "to," and nipa meaning "to give me" |
| John: Which part of that word means “me” and which means “to give”? |
| Medina: ni- is used to refer to oneself or “I”, and pa- is used as suffix for the act of giving. |
| John: The last word in the phrase is |
| Medina: hongera meaning "congratulations." |
| John: You use this phrase to show appreciation to someone for doing something really well. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say Mwalimu alinipa hongera kwa sababu ya kuupita mtihani wangu. |
| John: .. which means "The teacher appreciated me because I passed my exams." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to discuss abilities. Let’s start with an example from the dialogue. |
| Medina: In the dialogue, Maria says Mimi siwezi kukimbia ama kuimba. Sio mojawapo ya vipawa vyangu. |
| John: meaning “I can't run or sing. I don’t have a talent for either.” |
| Medina: She also says Mimi naweza kusikiza mafunzo, kusoma vitabu na kucheza kadanda. |
| John: Which means “I can listen to lessons and read my books and play football.” |
| Medina: When discussing abilities, we use the word weza. Weza means “I can” while siwezi means “I cannot.” |
| John: In the Swahili language, you use modal verbs to show ability. |
| Medina: Right, the best example in the sentence we just mentioned is the use of the word “can,” which in Swahili was weza. |
| John: How can we make a sentence to talk about something we can or cannot do? |
| Medina: In Swahili, you formulate a sentence starting with the pronoun, then the modal verb, weza, the main verb, and the adjective. In some instances, you can start with a proper noun instead of the pronoun. |
| John: Okay. Let’s give some examples. |
| Medina: Sure thing. First, Mimi naweza imba kwa sauti ya kuvutia. |
| John: Meaning “I can sing very well.” |
| Medina: And John hawezi cheza kandanda. |
| John: Meaning “John cannot play football.” |
| Medina: Yeye anaweza cheza ngoma vizuri sana. |
| John: Meaning ”He can play music very well.” Next, let’s take a look at the most important kinds of hobbies and talents and how they are named in Swahili. |
| Medina: For example, Kucheza ngoma |
| John: which means “dancing” |
| Medina: Ushairi |
| John: “poetry” |
| Medina: Kandanda |
| John: “football” |
| Medina: Mpira wa kikapu |
| John: “basketball”. Medina, aside from abilities, how can we express that we like something? |
| Medina: You can express that you like something by using the verb napenda ... |
| John: which means “I love.” |
| Medina: Also in this case, when you’re formulating a sentence, you start with a pronoun, then a modal verb, followed by the main verb, and lastly the adjective. |
| John: Let’s wrap up by giving sample sentences which will be useful when talking about both likes and abilities. |
| Medina: First we have Mimi napenda kuimba. |
| John: “I love to sing.” |
| Medina: And John anaweza andika shairi. |
| John: ”John can write poems.” |
| Medina: Napenda kucheza mpira wa kikapu. |
| John: ”I love playing basketball.” |
| Medina: Mimi sijui kuitumia tarakilishi. |
| John: "I cannot use a computer." |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Medina: Tuonane! |
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